In contemporary laundry treating appliances that treat laundry by the implementation of a treating cycle of operation, process settings for an operation cycle of a laundry treating appliance may depend on the size of a laundry load. In some laundry treating appliances, the user manually inputs a qualitative laundry load size (extra-small, small, medium, large, extra-large, etc.) through a user interface. In other treating appliances, the treating appliance automatically determines the laundry load size because, for example, manual input may be perceived as inconvenient to the user and may result in inaccurate laundry load size determination due to the subjective nature of the estimation.
In treating appliances having a drum defining the treating chamber and a motor for rotating the drum, a parameter of the motor, such as torque, may be indicative of a quantitative size, such as mass or weight, of the laundry, which may then be quantified. Historically, the motors have been controlled by a critically damped motor controller to ensure that the speed and movement of the drum responds appropriately accordingly to the implemented treating cycle of operation to achieve the desired treatment and care of the laundry.